Residents in Oildale are concerned after officials warned them about a small - but dangerous - insect found living inside their citrus trees.

The Department of Food and Agriculture sent a letter to Oildale residents about the Asian Citrus Psyllid -- a tiny insect that can transmit a bacterial disease.

If the bug infects a tree, it could produce bitter or rotten fruit and will eventually kill the tree.

Citrus greening disease has been found throughout different parts of California and now here in Kern County, but the Department of Agriculture and Measurement Standards says ACS is nothing new.

"This notice is a result of the quarantine in Bakersfield but it's not something that we haven't been dealing with for a while," said Glenn Fankhauser, Assistant Director for The Department of Agriculture and Measurement Standards. 

The best way to prevent citrus greening from killing citrus trees is to stop ACS before it reaches our citrus groves, a vital part of Kern County's AG industry.

An open house meeting on treatment plans against ACS is scheduled next week for residents in the Oildale community.